1 Onward, onward, men of heaven;
Bear the gospel banner high;
Rest not till its light is given--
Star of every pagan sky:
Send it where the pilgrim stranger
Faints beneath the torrid ray;
Bid the hardy forest-ranger
Hail it, ere he fades away.
2 Where the Arctic Ocean thunders,
Where the tropics fiercely glow,
Broadly spread its page of wonders,
Brightly bid its radiance flow:
India marks its lustre stealing,
Shivering Greenland loves its rays;
Afric, 'mid her deserts kneeling,
Lifts the untaught strain of praise.
3 Rude in speech, or wild in feature,
Dark in spirit, though they be,
Show that light to every creature--
Prince or vassal, bond or free:
Lo! they haste to every nation;
Host on host the ranks supply:
Onward! Christ is your salvation,
And your death is victory.
Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #585
Sigourney, Lydia, née Huntley. This distinguished name stood at the head of the female poets of America a generation ago, and is still well remembered. Born in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1791, she conducted a school in the same town from 1809 to 1814, when she removed to Hartford, where she was married to Charles Sigourney in 1819. Most of her subsequent life was spent at Hartford, and she died there, June 10, 1865. Her first publication was Moral Pieces in Prose and Verse, 1815. This was followed by 58 additional works. A thorough exploration of these, or of such of them are poetical, would be necessary to trace her hymns with accuracy. They, however, are more numerous than important. Many have been used in the older collections; some are… Go to person page >
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